History Courses

This course integrates social, political, and cultural history, acknowledging the important contributions of women and men from all strata of society -including the nobility, religious leaders, rural peasants, urban dwellers, merchants, and others. HI-101 begins with our first human ancestors and ends with the Age of Exploration in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. HI 102 begins with the Atlantic Slave Trade and continues through the present age of globalization.

This course integrates social, political, and cultural history, acknowledging the important contributions of women and men from all strata of society -including the nobility, religious leaders, rural peasants, urban dwellers, merchants, and others. HI-101 begins with our first human ancestors and ends with the Age of Exploration in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. HI 102 begins with the Atlantic Slave Trade and continues through the present age of globalization.

This semester we will look at Medieval Europe from the collapse of the Western Roman Empire (c. 410) to the arrival of the plague in 1348. Against the backdrop of daily life in Medieval Europe, we will consider a broad range of ideas and texts from the philosophy of Boethius to the Letters of St. Catherine of Siena; and from courtly romance to the Crusades. Far more than just the Dark Ages, our consideration of Medieval Europe includes monks on the trail of a murderer, kings and their subjects, and even mythical heroes such as King Arthur and Robin Hood (and of course, Maid Marion).

This course covers the history of Modern Europe from 1789 to the decade before World War I, organized around political, social, and economic developments and conflicts. As we explore the ways nineteenth-century Europeans grappled with the creation of the modern world, the course will address several specific themes, including the tension between liberty and control in modernizing states, new belief systems (ideologies), migrations, imperialism, reform movements, and cultural developments.

This course examines Europe's 20th century, starting with Europe at the height of its relative wealth, power, and population in 1900 and continuing through war, trauma, division, and resurgence to the year 2000. We will survey major political, economic, social, and intellectual events and trends from several perspectives including individual experience, culture, and geopolitics, emphasizing the role of ideology. The course includes lectures, discussions, readings, and two papers. Country assignments will help students bring national perspectives to class, and special assignments will help students tie past events to present-day issues and controversies.

The history of the Mediterranean is a survey of ancient civilizations around the Mediterranean basin, specifically Greece, Rome and the Near East to the rise of Islam in the seventh century AD. Consideration will also be given to Ancient Egypt and Mediterranean connections to the Silk Road. The course focuses on the cultural interactions and exchanges that took place around the Mediterranean: material, cultural, religious and social; the importance of merchants and trade networks; and the Mediterranean Sea as a space both connected and conflicted.

For purposes of this class, the modern Middle East is defined as 1914- present, territorially and politically stretching from Egypt to Iran, including Israel/Palestine, the Arabian Peninsula, and Turkey. As time allows, we will consider North Africa as a region with cultural, linguistic, and religious ties to the Middle East but also very different, as well as Afghanistan, and Pakistan. This course carefully considers how history, culture, politics, economics, and geography, as well as all three Abrahamic faiths-Judaism, Christianity, and Islam-shaped the region's past, are inextricably tied to its present, and help us think about what the future might hold. This class also addresses matters of gender, violence, terrorism, and the chances for a lasting peace. Finally, colonialism and imperialism continue to resonate throughout the Middle East, making it necessary to exam the roles of such countries as Britain, France, Russia, and the United States.

This course is a survey of the relatively recent histories of China, Japan, and Korea, from the 19th century to the present. Through readings, lectures, and films, we will chronicle the transformation of these three East Asian countries from quasi-medieval dynasties to subordinate semi-colonies of the Western powers in the 19th century, to the revolutionary and bloody upheavals of 20th century nationalism and communism that led to human suffering and war on an almost unimaginable scale. Today, Japan is an economic power that still hasn't fully come to terms with its wartime past, Korea is divided between a prosperous South that only recently embraced democracy and a bizarrely anachronistic Communist North, while China is finally emerging from more than a century of turmoil to become a global power that will do much to shape the course of the 21st century. The fascinating stories of how and why all of this occurred will be the subject matter of this course.

-189 -289 -389 -489 course descriptions: Special Topics courses include ad-hoc courses on various selected topics that are not part of the regular curriculum, however they may still fulfill certain curricular requirements. Special topics courses are offered at the discretion of each department and will be published as part of the semester course schedule - view available sections for more information. Questions about special topics classes can be directed to the instructor or department chair.

-189 -289 -389 -489 course descriptions: Special Topics courses include ad-hoc courses on various selected topics that are not part of the regular curriculum, however they may still fulfill certain curricular requirements. Special topics courses are offered at the discretion of each department and will be published as part of the semester course schedule - view available sections for more information. Questions about special topics classes can be directed to the instructor or department chair.

Our thematic consideration of the Renaissance begins in Italy slightly before a deadly round of plague in 1348, and ends c. 1600, as we follow its spread across Europe. Rather than confining the Renaissance to a particular set of dates, we will consider the people and forces that shaped this tumultuous time, from popes and kings, to condottieri, artists, and humanists. Through texts and images, students will discover a dynamic time of great art; new ideas; busy mercantile centers, encounters with new peoples and places; religious turmoil; warfare; love; and political upheaval.

Two Reformations, one Protestant the other Catholic, and a host of explorers occupy our study in this course as we look critically and analytically at the people, events, ideas, values, cultures, and perspectives of this turbulent and fascinating time in history. We will consider carefully the objections and the goals of Fra Girolamo Savonarola, Martin Luther, John Calvin and a number of others in their calls for reforms. We will venture beyond the confines of Europe in an attempt ascertain what might be learned about both the Europeans and those they encountered from a wide array of travel narratives. We will consider the use of maps as both ideological statements and navigational tools, and we will conduct our own search for the elusive Prester John.

An interpretative course which investigates a number of significant themes in the history of nineteenth century Eu-rope. Revolution, liberalism and nationalism, industrialization, the question of class, diplomacy and imperialism are among the subjects to be examined.

This course will examine the history of the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union, from its origins during and after World War II to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The political, ideological, economic, and strategic aspects of the conflict will all be closely examined. While much of the focus will be on the diplomatic tensions between the superpowers that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, the various impacts of the Cold War on Europe, Asia, and the rest of the globe will also be explored, helping to uncover the ways in which the Cold War's legacy continues to shape our world today.

While feminism, masculinity, and gender as fields of study within the dis - cipline of History are relative newcomers, complex and varied interactions among people have existed since our first human ancestors. Beginning with a short Introduction to the science of sex and gender we consider the possibility that while there may be two chromosomal sexes, constructs of gender are more complex and nuanced. Throughout the semester we will consider the many ways in which notions of women, men and gender are shaped by a broad range of forces including history, culture, religion, and place, as well as how gender norms and expectations have shaped the world and its peoples. Utilizing a wide variety of sources including scholarly texts, art, literature, social media, and film, we will together consider questions of feminism and masculinity, the body and sexuality, marriage, faith and much more as not only integral to a better understanding of history but also part of conversations currently taking place among people all over the world.

This course traces the rise and development of Britain over the past three centuries, covering the major social, political, economic, and cultural developments of this influential part of the world. Topics will include the evolution and disintegration of the British Empire, the Industrial Revolution, the development of parliamentary institutions and the changing constellations of political rights, British foreign relations (including war and diplomacy), and the quest for a post-imperial role.

Brian Boru, St. Patrick, Gerry Adams, Ian Paisley, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, and the Irish Republic Army are all part of the history of this tiny island, some inhabitants descendants of the first arrivals to this land over 9,000 years ago, others immigrants from England centuries later. By 600, those living in Ireland had developed a unique Christian culture alongside of the traditional one of their ancestors. In the seventeenth century English settlers arrived, and despite the passage of time, retained their identity, as well as their Protestant faith. By the end of the first half of the 20th century, both British and Irish lived on an island divided by politics, economics, and religion. In the south rose the independent Republic of Ireland, while the north continued to be a part of Britain. In all, this volatile region of competing identities continues to fascinate and remains, in the words of WB Yeats, "a terrible beauty..."

For centuries, France was the most populous and powerful European state between Russia and the Atlantic Ocean, with a cultural and intellectual impact to match. This course covers topics of importance in French history from the late 18th century to the present, starting with the world-changing Revolution and Napoleon, proceeding to the crises and modernization of the 19th century, and finishing with the disasters and successes of the 20th century and today's challenges of national integration and terrorism. The course will be organized as a set of student research projects combined with common readingss and short lectures.

Interwar Europe: From Versailles to Hitler A wide ranging study of Europe between World War I and World War II, 1919-1939. Special emphasis is placed upon political, intellectual, social cultural, economic and military developments during a critical phase of modern European history.

The Civil War was the gravest crisis the United States has ever faced and remains to this day the deadliest war in American history, having taken over 600,000 American lives. Even now, 150 years since the end of the war, historians still debate the major questions surrounding this compelling period in American history. This course will examine the major political, economic, and social developments that led to the American Civil War, the military, political, and social aspects of the war itself, and the 12-year period of Reconstruction following the war. Major questions to be explored include,was the war inevitable or could it have been avoided? Why did the North win and the South lose-could the result have been different? How exactly should Reconstruction be defined and remembered, and how do its failures and successes continue to shape American life today?

A critical examination of the political, social, and economic forces that have shaped the United States since the 1980. Themes will include the "Reagan Revolution," end of the Cold War, politics and culture during the 1990s including the Lewinsky scandal, disputed election of 2000, the attacks of September 11, 2001, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the successes and failures of the Obama presidency.

An analytical survey of major developments and trends in United States diplomacy from the 1898 to the present. Major issues include American imperialism, the World Wars, Cold War, and War on Terrorism.

This course will explore the four major wars fought by the United States in Asia in the modern era in the larger context of America's changing role in the world as it rose to superpower status: the Philippine-American War, the Pacific War against Japan, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Examining each of these conflicts will help students appreciate the ways in which both the United States and Asia have changed since the turn of the twentieth century.

This course will explore the history of games (card and board games and games of chance) from thousands of years ago to modern times. The objectives of the course are to introduce the important features (history, cultural context, strategy, style, and economic correlations) of games. The aim is to focus on larger themes and trends rather than merely having you memorize rote facts. By the time you leave this course you will be able to actively engage major concepts and issues related to a number of games.

This course will explore the history of the modern Olympics from the late 1800s to the present. The objects of the course are to introduce the important economic, geographic, political, and cultural trends that have influenced modern Olympic history. The aim is to focus on larger themes and trends rather than merely having you memorize rote facts. By the time you leave this course you will be able to actively engage major issues related to the Olympics

World War II was the most destructive conflict in human history. By the time the guns fell silent in 1945, approximately 60 million people had been killed worldwide. What can possibly explain the extent of such bloodshed? While a comprehensive answer may require us to explore some of the most diffi - cult existential questions about what it means to be human, history offers us a clear guide as to why this conflict occurred when it did, the ways in which it unfolded, and how it came to an end. This course will explore the historical origins of World War II in both Europe and the Pacific, the major political and military turning points of the conflict, and issues related to the war's lasting impact, including the Holocaust. We will also seek to balance the stories of some of the more compelling personalities of the war (e.g., Hitler, Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt) with the experience of the millions of everyday soldiers and civilians who endured unspeakable suffering during this most terrible war.

-189 -289 -389 -489 course descriptions: Special Topics courses include ad-hoc courses on various selected topics that are not part of the regular curriculum, however they may still fulfill certain curricular requirements. Special topics courses are offered at the discretion of each department and will be published as part of the semester course schedule - view available sections for more information. Questions about special topics classes can be directed to the instructor or department chair.

Internship Programs Recognizing that learning can take place outside the classroom, Carroll College allows its students to participate in a work program that relates to their area of studies. This employment must relate directly to classroom work in order to qualify for an internship. Close cooperation between Carroll and the participating companies insures a work experience that contributes significantly to the student?s overall growth and professional development. Juniors and seniors in any major area may participate with the approval of the department chairperson, academic advisor, and the internship coordinator. Students will receive academic credit and may or may not receive monetary compensation for an internship. A student may earn a maximum of 6 semester hours in the internship program. Enrollment in the course must be during the same semester in which the majority of the work experience takes place. Interested students should contact their academic advisor and the internship coordinator at the Career Services Office.

Independent study is open to junior and senior students only. At the time of application, a student must have earned a 3.0 cumulative grade point average. A student may register for no more than three (3) semester hours of independent study in any one term. In all cases, registration for independent study must be approved by the appropriate department chairperson and the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

A formal seminar which surveys theories and literature of history as seen in the work of a variety of historians. Emphasis will be on methodological and topical approaches. Required for all history majors. Recommended for spring semester of the junior year.

A formal seminar in which the students research, write, and evaluate major papers based on primary and secondary source materials. This course also serves as a preparatory seminar for students in the history major and related fields who are writing senior theses in history.

The senior thesis is designed to encourage creative thinking and to stimulate individual research. A student may undertake a thesis in an area in which s/he has the necessary background. Ordinarily a thesis topic is chosen in the student's major or minor. It is also possible to choose an interdisciplinary topic.

Interested students should decide upon a thesis topic as early as possible in the junior year so that adequate attention may be given to the project. In order to be eligible to apply to write a thesis, a student must have achieved a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.25 based upon all courses attempted at Carroll College.

The thesis committee consists of a director and two readers. The thesis director is a full-time Carroll College faculty member from the student's major discipline or approved by the department chair of the student's major. At least one reader must be from outside the student's major. The thesis director and the appropriate department chair must approve all readers. The thesis committee should assist and mentor the student during the entire project.

For any projects involving human participants, each student and his or her director must follow the guidelines published by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Students must submit a copy of their IRB approval letter with their thesis application. As part of the IRB approval process, each student and his or her director must also complete training by the National Cancer Institute Protection of Human Participants.

The thesis is to be completed for three (3) credits in the discipline that best matches the content of the thesis. If the thesis credits exceed the credit limit, the charge for additional credits will be waived. Applications and further information are available in the Registrar's Office.

An Integrative Learning course where students receive CORE credit in both History and Theology.

This course will seek to weave together the problem and question of God with historical case studies illuminating humanity's capacity for cruelty, atrocity, and genocide. By exploring some of the leading philosophical and theological arguments regarding the problem of evil, for example, alongside real historical examples, we will force the class to confront the reality that neither discipline has all the answers to the difficult questions posed by the human potential for evil.

An Integrative Learning course where students receive CORE credit in both History and Theology.

This course will seek to weave together the problem and question of God with historical case studies illuminating humanity's capacity for cruelty, atrocity, and genocide. By exploring some of the leading philosophical and theological arguments regarding the problem of evil, for example, alongside real historical examples, we will force the class to confront the reality that neither discipline has all the answers to the difficult questions posed by the human potential for evil.

An Integrative Learning course where students receive CORE credit in both History and Theology.

This course will seek to weave together the problem and question of God with historical case studies illuminating humanity's capacity for cruelty, atrocity, and genocide. By exploring some of the leading philosophical and theological arguments regarding the problem of evil, for example, alongside real historical examples, we will force the class to confront the reality that neither discipline has all the answers to the difficult questions posed by the human potential for evil.